Running Solo in San Francisco

Carlo and I kind of planned our wedding around the San Francisco Half Marathon and we had wanted it to be the official kick off to wedding week. Unfortunately, Carlo got really sick the Thursday before the half and we decided it would be best if he didn't run and instead got better for the wedding.

I was a little hesitant running the half by myself because I haven't run that long of a distance by myself ever, but I approached the run as a mental training run for the Nike marathon that I will be running by myself in October, all 26.2 miles solo.

One of my strategies to keep occupied was to dedicate each mile to a different person or thing that I'm thankful for in my life. I read about this idea in an article Kristin Armstrong wrote for Runner's World last year, and thought I would give it a try. There were a few cases of serendipity when my ipod and mile recipients matched up, including when a song by The Cardigans came on during Andrew's mile and A Town Called Malice played during Alison's mile. These moments definitely made me smile and put an extra spring in my step. The only "hard" miles were the last couple which I devoted to Carlo and our pending wedding. I was supposed to think about what I wanted to include in my vows, but I started crying just at the thought of the vows which wasn't really good when I was going down a huge 1 mile hill. Crying and trying to take deep breaths don't really go together and I felt like I was about to hyperventilate! The mile markers not only helped me pass the time, but also reminded me of all of the important people in my life who have supported me over the years and have helped me become a runner. I will definitely be creating a list for the marathon in October, and will be taking special requests to fill all 26 slots.

The run itself went great. I went out feeling really strong, and pretty much stayed on course with my nutrition every 3 miles and maintained this great feeling throughout the run. I think it helped that we had run the course last year and I knew where the big hills were and how to deal with them. It also helps to have an incredible course to run, which is beautiful and takes you over the Golden Gate Bridge. I got lucky this year because there was no fog on the bridge, so I could actually see off the bridge rather than us running through what felt like a cloud when we did it last year.

A view of the Golden Gate Bridge from around mile 5

I tried to enjoy the run as much as possible and all I can remember is feeling really lucky that I'm able to run, be fit, and was about to marry my soulmate in only a few days. I just felt blessed throughout the half and it was a really great feeling.

Part of me having fun was trying to take some photos during the run, and of course, taking photos of other runners who asked. Here is one of me after I have just crossed the Golden Gate Bridge before having to run back over it.

The last couple of miles were the hardest because in mile 10 you come down this incredibly steep hill which is around 1 mile long and then the rest of the course is undulating hills until you enter Golden Gate Park. The downhill trashes your quads and then your legs just become jelly in the final push. I took the downhill a lot slower than we did it last year because I remember having major problems in the final 2 miles, so I wanted to save my legs a bit. The slower speed on the downhill helped somewhat but I was still pretty spent at the end.

The only thing that kept me going was the fact that I knew Carlo would be waiting for me at the finish line and I couldn't wait to see him. When I entered Golden Gate Park and looked at my watch, I knew I was going to beat last year's time and really tried to speed things up. I started going really strong when I saw Carlo at mile 13 and pushed it for the last .1 mile to the finish line, where I passed quite a few people :)

So fast, I'm blurry...

I crossed the finish line at 2:43:12 hours, which was a 3:29 minute improvement over last year's time! I was very happy, but knew that I could have easily come in under 2:40 if I had pushed it a bit harder in the last 2 miles and hadn't stopped for so many photos. Oh well, next year we will both make it under 2:40 for sure!